1976 Opel Manta coupe. A long haul project. More parts acquired

[Snake Charmer]

I miss the simplicity of a Manta orAscona SR dashboard. 

[sutty2006]

Not been able to do a lot on this again due to stuff, etc. but I had a go at fitting the spare rot free door I’ve had saved for a while. 
 

Dark blue door came off

 

light blue door went on

 

 

one issue with that door though..

 

it won’t fit. 
 

after much questioning, swearing and frustration I came to the conclusion that some rum c**t has removed this door from its previous carridge by kicking it out or cutting the A pillar hinges and butchering it. The door end looks swollen and bent out, and the latch was seized solid with the striker still in it. 

 

so I did the right thing and whacked it a few times with a copper hammer. 
 

 

eventually it fit

my good friend Charlie came over (local anorak) and we set to bending and cussing at the door until it sat straight.

 

 

and I swapped the latch over to test it out. Looks good to me! 

[dome]

2 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

Not been able to do a lot on this again due to stuff, etc. but I had a go at fitting the spare rot free door I’ve had saved for a while. 
 

Dark blue door came off

 

light blue door went on

 

 

one issue with that door though..

 

it won’t fit. 
 

after much questioning, swearing and frustration I came to the conclusion that some rum c**t has removed this door from its previous carridge by kicking it out or cutting the A pillar hinges and butchering it. The door end looks swollen and bent out, and the latch was seized solid with the striker still in it. 

 

so I did the right thing and whacked it a few times with a copper hammer. 
 

 

eventually it fit

my good friend Charlie came over (local anorak) and we set to bending and cussing at the door until it sat straight.

 

 

and I swapped the latch over to test it out. Looks good to me! 

Looking good! 

@GingerNuttz and I had similar fun trying to get the doors hung right on mine. We(ok, he🫣) ended up having to cut and reweld the hinges to get them to sit right. 

[GingerNuttz]

There was no chance we could have bent the doors into place 😂

10mm out at the sill and both doors had about 5mm drop at body line. 

[sutty2006]

1 hour ago, GingerNuttz said:

There was no chance we could have bent the doors into place 😂

10mm out at the sill and both doors had about 5mm drop at body line. 

This started with about an inch of drop. Just have to go steady and bit by bit. Goes eventually! 

[Six-cylinder]

5 hours ago, dome said:

Looking good! 

@GingerNuttz and I had similar fun trying to get the doors hung right on mine. We(ok, he🫣) ended up having to cut and reweld the hinges to get them to sit right. 

 

32 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

This started with about an inch of drop. Just have to go steady and bit by bit. Goes eventually! 

Back in the early 1990s when I worked for a Vauxhall dealer a customer returned with a new Cavalier MK3 hatchback because the tailgate did not sit square in the aperture and was down on one side. The service manager took the car into the workshop and wedged a piece of wood in one side and closed the boot with all his weight. The tailage sat lovely and the customer was happy. Afterwards I asked the service manager why he had not unbolted the hinges and repositioned them. The answer was they are welded on with no adjustment!

[Six-cylinder]

I have been told I am getting my Manta driving home for Christmas. The plan is I will give it a shakedown and then it will return to the workshop for snagging in the new year.

[GingerNuttz]

On the manta the 10mm gap was between the sill and the whole door bottom so no amount of twisting was going to close that gap, looked like the doors had an overbite.

A complete pain in the arse to get them looking right.

[sutty2006]

2 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

I have been told I am getting my Manta driving home for Christmas. The plan is I will give it a shakedown and then it will return to the workshop for snagging in the new year.

I will plan with you in the new year to come and see this. 👍

[sutty2006]

Been slow again on this. But small jobs are getting done. 
 

Brand new rostyle wheel, new tyre fitted. For spare. need a wheel strap now to hold it in place. 
 

 

drained the diff oil.
 

actually, it was empty. Slightly worrying but it’s not gone far enough to damage. 

 

I’ve never been inside this diff since I’ve owned it. So let’s say that’s 30+ years since anyone’s had the casing off. 
 

new gasket fitted and some new old stock ep90 diff oil. 
 

Cleaned and painted the cover. Will paint again when the axle is clean. 

 

 

[Westbay]

I think I'd be looking for a better cover rather than another coat 'o paint ,,, 😊

[rainagain]

That's looking great, talking about the collapsed foam in your seat, I've used this technique on the driver's seat in my 307 and it improved it quite a bit:

 

[sutty2006]

1 hour ago, Westbay said:

I think I'd be looking for a better cover rather than another coat 'o paint ,,, 😊

It’s not leaking, so it’s getting another coat of paint 😎

[sutty2006]

Little has been achieved over Xmas due to festivities and eating too much cake. But I’ve have been tinkering. 
 

first up, the rear axle got lowered. The springs were removed and cleaned (thought I had new ones but I was wrong) the panhard arm and roll bar painted and new bushes for the panhard were fitted. 

under the body needs cleaning and a layer of stone chip applying

 

the roll bar was crusty

 

So it got the sanding disk, primed and painted

 

The roll bush brackets got silvered

 

rear springs cleaned and inspect. 

 

then put back together. 

[sutty2006]

I’ve been hunting for a gold bonnet for a while, to replace the dog dick red one. A guy not far from me had one, and I’ve spent months trying to swap it with the red one with cash his way but had not joy. 
 

5 days ago the bonnet came up for sale so I bought it.

 

 

unfortunately it came with a 2.0 SR attached. 
 

so it got dragged home. 
 

 

it’s a rot box indeed

 

but it got a jet wash and I swapped the bonnets over. It’s a little corroded and dented but it looks 26% better than the red one. 
 

 

 

not quite as faded as the rest but the sunshine will sort that out. 
 

My plan was to sell the SR straight on, as I’ve had to borrow money from savings to buy it. I put it up for sale yesterday afternoon and sold it for exactly what I payed. 
 

 

I may have swapped a couple of parts from mine to this, drivers seat was much better so I’ve had that. I’m kind of regretting not breaking it (despite having no time to do it) because a lot of people need parts and there are better parts on this than on mine. But I’m happy it’s going to be restored. 

[Joey spud]

Re the pastile de turquoise door I don't suppose you know anything about the car it came from ?

My old Manta MOY136P was this rare colour and has been missing in action on the DVLA data base since I sold it in '95.

[sutty2006]

1 hour ago, Joey spud said:

Re the pastile de turquoise door I don't suppose you know anything about the car it came from ?

My old Manta MOY136P was this rare colour and has been missing in action on the DVLA data base since I sold it in '95.

I can’t even remember who I bought them off. Certain parts of my memory are patchy at best. I can’t even remember where this red bonnet came from. 

[Joey spud]

No worries. It was one of them cars I wish I'd never sold.

[sutty2006]

4 minutes ago, Joey spud said:

No worries. It was one of them cars I wish I'd never sold.

Can you remember if the reg was etched into the glass? I’ve got the drivers door in same colour but took the glass out and put it in me loft. 

[Six-cylinder]

I did not get our Manta back for Christmas unfortunately. The plan was I should take it, drive it for a while and return it for snagging. Trouble was the idle was erratic and as it is an Auto that is a problem. I agreed to take the carburettor and get it rebuild. I have used Leighton Buzzard Carburettor exchange in the past but struggled to make contact and was not even sure they were still in business. I did make contact after several tries and they advised me they they could not rebuild it because they can't get all the parts but would test it for me on their test engine. The result was the carb is ok and the factory settings had been altered so he reset them and advised me where the only two adjustments that should be done for idle speed and idle mixture are.

I am hopeful I will get it back this month now but we have foisted the Mazda 323 on him that might hold things up.

 

[Joey spud]

No it wasn't etched 

It was originally a 1.9 auto and a long term (48000 mile) test car for ''What Car" magazine but when I got it it had gained a three litre Essex and a Capri power bulge grafted in to the bonnet.

Two years later when I sold it back to the guy who did the Ford power swap I had broken a late two litre manual Cavalier and fitted it's engine and manual gearbox to it.

[sutty2006]

Sorry it’s been quiet on this project. 
 

It’s not far off complete. As in, parts wise. 
 

 

I found a stash of parts inside the original ash tray, which included 4x centre console screw covers. Rare. 
 

 

 

chassis plate fitted. 
 

hockey sticks fitted. 

 

started up last night, so hopefully get it timed up soon. 

[sutty2006]

The make shift vac hose got binned as it wasn’t correct. 
 

 

and the correct one bought and fitted. 
 

the Berlinetta wing badge removed and swapped for the ray badge of the original wing. 

 

 

and the trim was refitted

 

fired up my old computer and found a picture of the day I bought it in 2008. I still have that A frame! 

[sutty2006]

Screws finally sourced for the arm rests and immediately got fitted. 
 

nearside front arch trim needs fitting

 

boom

 

I found this parcel shelf in my stash, slightly broken, but left it under a heavy box for a few months to flatten it back out.

 

 

early ish washer bottle with a new aftermarket pump fitted. Just need to plum in the jets, which had to be replaced as they were crusty. 

 

 

[sutty2006]

The gold bonnet looks much better than the red one right?! 
 

 

and here’s another picture of it, I think this is the one that was sent to me. sat in someone’s front garden. 
 

[Matty]

Looking good Sutty. Like Joey said above wish I'd never sold mine. Uncle bought this a couple of months back. Currently engine and box out while the bodywork gets done then he needs a head for it. Or an engine whichever turns up first. I tagged you into summat at the time but didn't know whether you'd seen it.

[sutty2006]

20 minutes ago, Matty said:

Looking good Sutty. Like Joey said above wish I'd never sold mine. Uncle bought this a couple of months back. Currently engine and box out while the bodywork gets done then he needs a head for it. Or an engine whichever turns up first. I tagged you into summat at the time but didn't know whether you'd seen it.

Can’t remember anything buddy. 

[Matty]

4 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

Can’t remember anything buddy. 

I'm like that most days 😁

Being as you're still well involved i the manta scene if you've any leads on a decent head or complete engine it'd be gratefully received pal 👍 

[N Dentressangle]

Still one of the most gorgeous cars ever made

I've seen them live. Brilliant

[sutty2006]

1 hour ago, Matty said:

I'm like that most days 😁

Being as you're still well involved i the manta scene if you've any leads on a decent head or complete engine it'd be gratefully received pal 👍 

🤷‍♂️